Virtual/hybrid competitions
By Eric Todd
There were a few changes that were voted on and approved by the membership at the national meeting. I have planned to outline these in a series of articles, and am just now getting to it. One of those was the allowance of individuals to lift virtually in USAWA competitions. This is not an option that is allowable for the national championship, but could be an option for any other meet. That is up to the discretion of the promoter. For instance, all of the current meets sanctioned by Clark’s gym are hybrid, meaning lifters can lift in person or remotely, whereas the Old Time Strongman meet I am hosting next weekend is in person only. The idea behind this rule change is that it might increase participation for those lifters that are less likely to travel cross country to meets. Lifters who lift virtually with no certified official are eligible for meet accolades, but no national records. Those that are judged by a certified official in a remote location from the in-person competition would be eligible for USAWA national records. No promoter is required to offer remote or hybrid options, but any who wishes to is welcome to do so. Any promoter is welcome to ask questions about this rule change via email, the forum, or on facebook. Hopefully it encourages additional participation of members and in turn increases our membership which seems to be on an uphill swing.